This disclosure relates generally to patient beds and patient monitoring systems. More particularly, this disclosure relates to systems in which lighting in a patient's room is automatically controlled in response to a patient exiting the patient's bed.
Patient beds, such as those commonly found in healthcare facilities and other locations in which health care is provided, can have a number of features, including one or more features that are electronically controlled. Some examples of patient beds are the TotalCare® Bed System, the VersaCare® bed, the Advanta™ bed, and the Affinity® birthing bed, all of which are available from the Hill-Rom Company, Inc.
Bed exit systems, and other patient position monitoring systems, monitor a patient's position relative to a bed and issue alerts if the patient's position has changed or if the patient has moved to a position that may require the caregiver's attention. For example, if the patient has exited the bed, the patient position monitoring system may issue an audible or visual alarm. Some patient beds, such as the TotalCare® bed, the VersaCare® bed, and the Advanta™ bed, have a bed exit or patient position monitoring system incorporated therein. Some examples of patient beds that have a patient position monitoring feature are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,515,059; 7,538,659; 7,557,718; 7,568,246; 7,657,956 and 7,679,520. Other patient position monitoring systems may be sold as separate devices that can be used in connection with a bed.
Some patient beds can be connected to a healthcare facility's healthcare communication system (e.g., a nurse call system) to send data generated at the bed to the healthcare communication system. For example, if a patient has exited the bed, the bed may send a bed exit signal to the nurse call system, and the nurse call system may send a notification to a output device that is connected to the nurse call system (such as a dome light, a nurse's station, a speaker, or a caregiver's mobile communication device). Some examples of systems in which beds may communicate data to a nurse call system or hospital communication system are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,319,386; 6,362,725; and 5,699,038.